(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of amplifying nucleic acids. Specifically, exponentially increasing amplification yields utilizing a circularized template prepared from a target nucleic acid.
(2) Description of Related Art
There are a variety of nucleic acid amplification methods currently used in the life sciences industry and some of these utilize a rolling circle amplification technique. A few of these techniques amplify target nucleic acids in a linear fashion and as such lack the sensitivity for many desired applications. Some of these methods amplify target nucleic acids in an exponential fashion, but can be time consuming, tedious, difficult to automate and often lack the required sensitivity, precision, reproducibility and multiplexing capability. A method that is simple to perform, rapid, sensitive, specific, precise, accurate and reproducible is needed. It would also be beneficial if such a method was able to detect multiple target nucleic acids in a single assay (i.e., multiplexing, including high level multiplexing), perform these reactions under isothermal conditions and conduct these methods utilizing less complex equipment. These improvements would positively affect current sequencing procedures, development of in vitro diagnostics as well as a wide variety of other applications by reducing assay costs, decreasing the time for obtaining results and providing ease of use. The present invention describes methods that resolve these disadvantages and provide the benefits discussed.